Why is it that some businesses seem to attract new Clients so much easier?

Without the benefit of reputation, referral or more clever ad, some businesses are able to attract their unfair portion of business. They have an “it” factor working for them. Show me one of these businesses and I’ll show you their “it”; they’ve put the Client-pulling power of Differentiation to work.

Looking back at the humble beginnings of Piggybank Marketing back in 2006, I feel a bit embarrassed. Not because of how “cheesy” and unpolished our image was back then but because it reminds me of an important business lesson we learned the hard way: “Beware the Sirens of Success”.

And, despite knowing better (at least intellectually), I fell into a common problem that faces many Professionals as they grow their practice and become successful. The good news is that I came to my senses before it was too late and doubled-down on correcting it.

Our Cheesy, Humble Beginnings

It was a local small business trade-show called “Mr. Bob’s Trade-show” where we publicly hung out our shingle for the first time.Read More

Instead of the same old, same old Happy New Years message, I wanted to do more to help guarantee that we all have a better 2015 than 2014. Maybe last year was great…this year can be better. Maybe last year kinda sucked…this year can be better.

New Years Video

In the video, I talk about the need to “do new things and to do old things better” and the value of strategic planning. TEASER ALERT: I also reveal something that I’m doing this year that I’ve been putting off because it freaks me out so much!

We’ve all heard the cliché: “If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll be nothing to no one”. It may be cliché, but it’s so true.

One of the single biggest marketing missteps I see among struggling small businesses is that they don’t know who their “Most Profitable Customer” is. By just aligning your business around your Most Profitable Customer, you can immediately begin to see more profit with less effort.

In this article, I’ll give you two personal examples of this principle at work and 5 high impact areas to take a look at in your business.

What Goes Up Must Come Down…You Can Plan On It

It’s no secret that economies are cyclical…they have ups and they have downs. Despite that simple fact, most businesses work on the assumption that they’ll always be in the up cycle. That’s foolishness. A business that wants to be around for the long term needs to have a plan for the up times and for the down times. And the good news is that we can have plans to not just survive, but to thrive and grow in the ups and the downs.

Long lasting businesses have a growth plan for the up times and in the down times.

Choosing the right domain name is one of those “little things” that can make a big difference in your Internet Marketing. Having the wrong domain name can cost you countless numbers of visitors and PR; something a small business cannot afford to lose. The good news is that this is one of the quickest and easiest things you can do to give your Internet Marketing efforts a big boost.

Here are 7 key factors to consider when selecting the domain name for your small business:

Why do companies spend the time and money to implement a Customer Relationship Management system? The reasons vary, but near the top of the list you’ll almost always find:

Generate more sales.

Get control of their contacts with a central database.

Reduce operating inefficiencies and costs.

Companies get sold on how slick everything fits together and the flashy reports that will give magical insight into their business. CRM demos are designed to give maximum WOW factor and all of the scenarios used in the sales presentation are tailored to show off the CRM system at its very best and completely side step any product deficiencies. Those selling CRM systems get good at selling the “sizzle”.